Obama nominates new chief for hacked U.S. personnel agency

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on
Tuesday nominated Beth Cobert to head the Office of Personnel
Management, the U.S. federal agency that has been under intense
public and congressional scrutiny since a hack on its computer
systems affecting 22 million people was disclosed earlier this
year.

Cobert has been the acting director of OPM since Katherine
Archuleta, the previous director, resigned in July amid a
bipartisan call for her to step down due to her management of
the data breach.

Cobert needs approval by the U.S. Senate to be named head of
OPM, a vetting process that will likely include probing of how
Cobert intends to improve the agency's cyber defenses.

OPM disclosed two related intrusions into its networks that
laid bare the personal information of former and current federal
government employees, including contractors. Officials have
privately linked the hack to China.

"I look forward to hearing the nominee's ideas for
protecting Americans' private information, for contacting the
millions affected by the attack that inexplicably have not yet
heard from OPM, and ensuring that federal employees are not
subject to the threat of another massive hack of their private
information," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a
statement.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of
the House Oversight Committee, praised Cobert but expressed
concern that OPM chief information officer Donna Seymour has not
been removed due to her handling of the recent breaches.

Chaffetz urged Cobert to "immediately remove Ms. Seymour."

Prior to stepping in to lead OPM, Cobert was the Office of
Management and Budget's deputy director for management and the
U.S. chief performance director. She spent nearly three decades
at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, prior to
joining the federal workforce.
(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Ken Wills)